Many Georgians could be left without insurance options if Anthem, the parent company of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia, pulls out of the exchange markets. This was what they were looking to do, according to a research report released in late March.
In a myAJC piece, Georgia Health News CEO and Editor Andy Miller wrote, “Blue Cross is the largest insurer in Georgia. It is also currently the only exchange health insurer in 96 of the state’s 159 counties. Those counties cover the rural southern reaches of the state, as well as Augusta. Even a partial pullout by Anthem would create a vacuum in those areas.”
The research report noted that Anthem is leaning toward exiting many of the 144 rating regions where it currently participates, and company officials confirmed that they were evaluating the situation in a statement.
This isn’t the first time Georgia has faced a major insurer pullout of the Affordable Care Act exchanges: UnitedHealthcare and Aetna did the same in recent years, and Humana is expected to do the same next year. According to Kaiser Health News, insurers are looking for two key moves from the Trump administration: the continuation of certain subsidies for those with lower incomes and the enforcement of the individual insurance mandate or otherwise pay a tax penalty.
Anthem doesn’t have much more time to decide. Insurers planning to offer exchange coverage must submit their proposed rates to the Georgia Department of Insurance by May 16. Last year, Blue Cross got approved for a 21.4 percent average premium increase—which was an increase from the original 15.1 percent increase it requested. The company readjusted following Aetna’s pullout.
